Orientale

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Orientale ôrēäNtäl´ [key], formerly Haut-Zaïre ōt-zäēr´ [key], former province, c.204,000 sq mi (528,360 sq km), N Congo (Kinshasa). Kisangani was the capital. Orientale bordered the Central African Republic and South Sudan on the north and Uganda on the east. The province was the political stronghold of Patrice Lumumba . In 1960, Lumumba's followers, led by Antoine Gizenga and centered at Kisangani (then Stanleyville), attempted to establish a government to rival the central government at Kinshasa (then Leopoldville). The Stanleyville regime controlled most of the region until the central government reestablished control in 1962. There were further rebellions throughout the 1960s. The province was divided into four provinces in 2015: Bas-Uele (NW), Haut-Uele (NE), Ituri (SE), and Tshopo (SW).